Guide wires are used to guide a catheter for treatment of intravascular sites such as Percutaneous Transluminal Coronary Angioplasty (“PTCA”), or in examination such as cardio-angiography. For example, a guide wire used in the PTCA is inserted into the vicinity of a target angiostenosis portion together with a balloon catheter, and is operated to guide the distal end portion of the balloon catheter to the target angiostenosis portion.
In order to facilitate guiding a guide wire through a patient's vascular anatomy (e.g., from an exterior access point to an intravascular treatment site), a guide wire needs to meet a number of performance criteria. For example, a guide wire needs appropriate flexibility, pushability and torque transmission performance for transmitting an operational force from the proximal end portion to the distal end, and kink resistance (resistance against sharp bending).